How's it been going? Anybody seeing some results? I've been telling y'all to row for months now, at least a few of you should be getting absolutely shredded by now! I'm about to go row even though I'm sober and it absolutely sucks, so y'all better get to work!

  • Sickos [they/them, it/its]
    ·
    11 months ago

    I'm behind. I got the rower, used it for days, then life drama happened and I lost the pattern. I gotta start again. I'm a rower, I'm gonna row.

    • GorbinOutOverHere [comrade/them]
      hexagon
      ·
      11 months ago

      Yeah sometimes shit gets in the way and it really makes the first day or two getting back into it kinda tough. Just gotta try to do your best gettin through it

      Godspeed though, maybe you'll have a tough first day starting up again but i bet that next day will be smooth as fuck

  • Abracadaniel [he/him]
    ·
    edit-2
    11 months ago

    Reporting for duty!

    Show

    I top out at a sustained 24 strokes per minute, and do 30 minutes per session. At least twice a week. 9/10 resistance, 10/10 soon. Still gaining muscle as long as I take in enough protein.

    fash-bash

    • GorbinOutOverHere [comrade/them]
      hexagon
      ·
      11 months ago

      If you're doing those 30 minutes all without stopping you're a fucking warrior abracadaniel rat-salute-2

      I get my 30 minutes in over the course of like an hour of smoking weed and cursing the human ability to sweat

      Still gaining muscle as long as I take in enough protein

      The real battle for me, gotta eat eat eat. I think the high resistance helps in making it more of a lifting exercise than a cardio thing but it's still both and the rower says it's about 180 kcal a session. And my appetite still sucks ass!

      • Abracadaniel [he/him]
        ·
        11 months ago

        I do take one break at 15 minutes.

        Yeah having enough of an appetite can be tough. Luckily I found a plant based protein powder that tastes okay.

  • Frank [he/him, he/him]
    ·
    10 months ago

    I'm looking at machines but I'm not sure I can fit an 8" machine anywhere right now. Gonna have to get a tape measure out and see what's what.

    • GorbinOutOverHere [comrade/them]
      hexagon
      ·
      10 months ago

      If you can find room to use it, most of these machines are made to either fold up or stand upright to take less space

      I'm sure there's also gyms near you with rowing machines probably!

  • InevitableSwing [none/use name]
    ·
    edit-2
    11 months ago

    GorbinOutOverHere, how do you do 1,234 strokes in 30 minutes? If I was in the best shape of my life and I was decades younger - I might be able to manage 1,000 but I would be dead tired.

    ---

    My goal today was 1,575 strokes in 75 minutes. Yesterday - I did 1,500 in 75 at a rate of 20 strokes a minute. I figured I could eek out one more stroke a minute. I somehow I managed to sprint the last 3m.

    I'm using a Stamina BodyTrac Glider 1050. It's a cheap rower I bought off Amazon. The monitor is very basic and I want to know both my strokes and time. I use the monitor to keep track of only my total strokes and I use a plastic timer to keep track of my time.

    Show

    • GorbinOutOverHere [comrade/them]
      hexagon
      ·
      11 months ago

      GorbinOutOverHere, how do you do 1,234 strokes in 30 minutes? If I was in the best shape of my life and I was decades younger - I might be able to manage 1,000 but I would be dead tired

      When I say 30 minutes I mean 30 minutes of total rowing time, I usually do 5 minute bursts and then take a bit to wipe the sweat off, admire myself in the mirror, or smoke some weed.

      It might be that your rower has a higher resistance than mine set at max? It could also be me having bad form or something? Idk, I just row, row, row and if the strokes per minute is under 40 I row faster. I did 1325 strokes the other day because I was trying my fuckinv hardest. I've done more though before I put the resistance all the way up.

      I could also be younger than you, idk. I'm 32.

      But either way I think if you're feeling the workout, it's hard, and you're seeing results, that's all that matters! You're doin' good. No need to compare your numbers to mine since we're using totally different equipment.

      And 75 minutes in one workout is longer than I've ever rowed. The most I managed was like 50 minutes straight without stopping at 10/16 resistance, I went into the Row Zone and just meditated. But that hurt my back (it was before i started stretching right) lol and i couldn't do it again

      Anyway, for real, you're doing great and I'm so glad you're pushing yourself to do more! We're gonna be so fit for manning the barricades when the revolution comes arm-L arm-R

      • InevitableSwing [none/use name]
        ·
        11 months ago

        I could also be younger than you, idk. I'm 32.

        I'm much older.

        It might be that your rower has a higher resistance than mine set at max?

        I'm using the second lowest setting for right now. I'm old and fat. I lost ~5 pounds but I still need to lose ~45 more. It's not fun to push and pull that extra weight around.

        I usually do 5 minute bursts...

        Ah. I thought you mean 30 minutes in a row.

        75 minutes in one workout is longer than I've ever rowed.

        I have no idea how I'm managing to go that long in just one set. I've also done up to 110 minutes in multiple sets. I need to dump a lot of weight so it's a slog.

        We're gonna be so fit for manning the barricades when the revolution comes.

        It better come soon. In any case - I'll be ready.

        • GorbinOutOverHere [comrade/them]
          hexagon
          ·
          11 months ago

          I'm using the second lowest setting for right now. I'm old and fat. I lost ~5 pounds but I still need to lose ~45 more. It's not fun to push and pull that extra weight around.

          Hey, not to come off the wrong way, but being older is hard, even at my age I feel the wear on my body. If you're much older, all the more reason not to compare yourself to my standard.

          And like i literally don't even know what the max setting on my rower even means! It doesn't tell me the weight Im pulling. Your rower might still be pretty difficult in comparison! Idk, i've never used it.

          And like about the weight, like, having more weight on you really makes rowing so much more difficult. It helps lose weight, but if you have a big gut it can make proper rowing form very uncomfortable. I had just a modest beer belly and I still felt extra strain because of it. Just more reason not to get bogged down in comparing your data with mine

          I think you're doing great, if that 75 minutes you did got you sweating and cursing life then all you gotta do is keep doing that level of activity and you'll see great results.

          I would recommend trying to up the resistance every few weeks, maybe not in 75 minute marathons but in smaller sets, just to help build muscle in addition to the cardio benefits

          Also I think the mechanical rowing machine you got might limit your range of movement? I think that's something i read when i was shopping for one. Something to consider if it seems like it's awkward to use (in ways other than the gut thing. (I really felt that in the lean forward part ugh))

          P.s. im not a fitness expert im just a guy with a rowing machine and also pretty stoned for the first time in days

          P.p.s. i row 100x better while stoned with some energizing music playing. Fast beats in the manner that pleases you best, I've been enjoying the hiphop

          • InevitableSwing [none/use name]
            ·
            11 months ago

            I would recommend trying to up the resistance every few weeks, maybe not in 75 minute marathons but in smaller sets, just to help build muscle in addition to the cardio benefits

            That's part of my plan.

            Also I think the mechanical rowing machine you got might limit your range of movement?

            It's a cheapie machine and for what it is - it's okay. I'm thinking of buying a Concept2. It's the gold standard for rowing machines and you can compare yourself to others easily.

            i row 100x better while stoned with some energizing music playing. Fast beats in the manner that pleases you best, I've been enjoying the hiphop

            So far I'm more of a rowing as struggle guy. It's just me and the machine.

  • red_stapler [he/him]
    ·
    edit-2
    11 months ago

    I got that Merach one at the start of the month and have been doing 5 minutes at the highest resistance once or twice a day. I guess I’m at like 20 strokes / min.

    • GorbinOutOverHere [comrade/them]
      hexagon
      ·
      11 months ago

      That's pretty good because imo the highest resistance setting is pretty tough, just listen to your body and if something hurts try and do things to fix that, stretch (i think stretching my hamstrings helped back pain I was developing) and try to correct your form.

      If you're not noticing problems and you feel good and have the time and it aligns with your fitness goals then definitely feel free to row for longer durations or go for a faster pace! But if you're feelin it and it's hard and you don't wanna do more then that's good, keep doing what you're doing and remember to eat extra protein if you're able to do so! You'll just keep gettin' stronger!

      If you can get up to 6 sets of those 5 minutes a day you'll basically be rowin as much as me. More if it's every day cause I've been lazy 😔 but like don't hurt yourself ya know, I got this machine back in December

      • red_stapler [he/him]
        ·
        11 months ago

        I don’t have any specific fitness goals, it seemed like “having a machine that tracks some basic stats” would at least trick my adhd brain into getting off the couch.